


All is Soft Inside

by hecateandhoney (LiveLoveLikeMe)



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017), The Worst Witch - All Media Types
Genre: Drabbles, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 11:59:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 2,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19084591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLoveLikeMe/pseuds/hecateandhoney
Summary: An ongoing collection of Hackle drabbles/short fics originally posted to CC.  All based on submitted one-word prompts.  Mostly fluff.





	1. Snuggle

**Author's Note:**

> All of these have been posted originally to my curious cat page. I'm always open to prompts there. I've decided to store all the Hackle ones here, as they're by far the most requested, but if you want to see the rest or ask for some, they're all under my HecateandHoney name. If any are popular enough here, I might be open to expanding upon them into something longer, so let me know!

"Is there anything else I can do?" Hecate asked nervously. 

Usually, when Ada fell ill, she banned everyone else from her chambers. "I don't need to start an epidemic," she always said, "and you especially need to stay healthy, Hecate. Who else would be left to run the school?" Hecate would send her healing potions and make sure Miss Tapioca was sending up the proper meals to induce optimal wellness, but that was the end of her permitted involvement. 

Until now. Now, Ada had caught an awful summer cold, and unlike all the times before, Hecate was not just her friend and colleague. Now, Hecate was... something more. They hadn't defined it exactly, but kissing under the stars the week before certainly felt significant enough to warrant a change in titles, and at the very least, Hecate thought she had an obligation to try and look after her.

The problem was, everything felt so new, she didn't know how.

"I am a bit cold," Ada said with a sad little sniffle. 

"Do you want another blanket?" Hecate asked, feeling frantic. "Or tea? Another sweater?"

Ada's face fell. "Oh, any of those would do a fine job, I suppose." Even without a clue what she was doing, Hecate could tell that Ada very much did not think any of those would be fine.

"Ada, please just tell me how to help."

"Snuggles," Ada said simply after a pause, smiling up at her with unrestrained hope that Hecate could never deny.

"Snuggles?" The word felt strange on her tongue.

"You know, you could join me on the couch, to start with, and then perhaps you could wrap your arms around me and just... be here?" 

Hecate swallowed dryly. Snuggling was uncharted territory. It seemed dangerous, somehow, like she might mess it up and put Ada off any further romance. But then Ada gave a harsh sneeze into the blanket and looked so utterly pathetic, Hecate was on the couch beside her before she could blink. "Like this?" she asked. Her heart was pounding. Carefully, Hecate reached an arm around Ada's shoulders and used the other to help guide her head to the crook of her neck. "It is not unpleasant," she said quietly, more in surprise to herself than to Ada. 

The ill woman shook with laughter as she relaxed and settled into Hecate's hold. "It's perfect."


	2. Sunshine

"Hecate..."

"Save your breath, Ada, there is no need to say, 'I told you so.' I concede that you were correct in your request that I wear your sunscreen as I am, as you put it, 'pale enough to get a burn from staring at the moon.' As you can see, I think my punishment has been more than sufficient." Hecate grimaced as she said it, looking at her bright red back in the mirror.

"I was only going to offer to help you rub some aloe on your back, dear, but if you'd rather be alone I'll understand." 

"Oh." Hecate felt her cheeks burn. They undoubtedly matched her back in color. Here was Ada, looking so concerned, holding a freshly cut piece of her beloved aloe plant in one hand, not at all here to punish Hecate as she'd been doing herself. "I... actually, would you mind helping me reach the spot between my shoulder blades? There is pain when I try to turn."

Ada smiled shyly and stepped into the room, forgiveness to Hecate's unspoken apology written all across her face. "Of course."


	3. Holidays

"What is this?" Hecate asked quietly, looking down at the tiny candle cupped in Ada's palms. The power was out in the castle from the storm, but the rest of the rooms were now glowing with magic. Ada's office was the only one not, and Hecate stared in confusion at the array of candles spread about instead.

"Well, I know how much it means to you to have a ceremonial fire every All Hallows' Eve. Unfortunately, this was the best I could do, what with the storm and general chaos of-- well, we really don't need to rehash all of that, do we, dear?" Ada asked hopefully, looking up at Hecate in the warm candlelight. Hecate didn't immediately respond, and Ada's smile fell. "I should have known it was a bad idea, I'm sorry. Let me just clear these away--"

"NO!" Hecate's voice was sharper than she'd meant it to come out, and she softened herself by reaching out and cupping her hands around Ada's. "It's perfect."


	4. Proposal

"Do you want to be married?"

Ada was nearly asleep when the words were spoken. Hecate whispered them so softly from the other side of their bed, they nearly passed off as a little fancy in her dreams, but no-- Ada definitely heard the question clear as day.

"What?" Ada asked, jolting from her relaxed state and sitting up in bed. 

"To me," Hecate clarified, unnecessarily.

Ada waved a hand to turn their bedside lamps on, illuminating Hecate in a soft glow. She didn't even know where to start. Was Hecate feverish? Hallucinating? She looked far too calm for someone who had just casually mentioned the idea of marriage, especially considering it was Hecate I-Panic-Always Hardbroom. 

Whatever was going on, Ada needed to tread lightly.

"Has this been on your mind for long?" she asked instead of the fifty more pressing questions weighing down her mind. Hecate was far too likely to scare from the topic-- even after bringing it along herself-- if she thought Ada wasn't receptive.

The tall witch shrugged, waving a hand to produce a tiny velvet box. Even without opening it, Ada knew what was inside, and she gasped.

"Hecate..." Marrying Hecate was always something on Ada's mind, but the thought that Hecate would ever relish such a union was... well, before now, it was nearly impossible.

"I saw the ring and something just came over me. I had to have it for you. The reasoning behind it did not really occur to me until I was looking at it later on, and it was unexpected," Hecate explained carefully, never taking her eyes off the little velvet box. "This was not how I planned to-- not that I had a plan at all. I was still trying to get used to the idea of it, but I could hear you breathing, and I thought, 'I never again wish to spend a night away from such a comforting sound.' Is that ridiculous? The question just popped out."

Ada sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and sighed. "I won't fault you if you still want to back out, Hecate."

Hecate looked thoughtfully at the little box for a second, twisting it in her fingers, and then turned that same gaze onto Ada.

"I do not. Wish to back out, that is."

Ada smiled, eyes welling with tears. She wanted to reach out and grasp Hecate's hand, but there were still words she needed to hear.

"Does that mean... Hecate, are you asking?" She didn't want to hope, but it felt so close.

Hecate shook her head. "No. Not tonight. But should I ask you tomorrow, somewhere a little more romantic than our bed, do you think the answer might be... favorable?"

Ada smiled, relaxing down against her pillow and lifting an arm for Hecate to snuggle closer. "I think I can safely say yes, it will be."


	5. Baby

"Five more minutes, baby," Hecate mumbled sleepily, trying to pull the blanket over her head.

"What?" Ada dropped her cardigan along with her jaw.

"What?" Hecate repeated, blearily opening her eyes to the day and yawning.

"Did you-- I thought you said-- nevermind." Ada shook her head. She knew she wasn't hearing things, but bringing it up with Hecate might not bode well in the end.

Hecate sat up fully now, eyes narrowed in suspicious alert. "Ada, tell me," she insisted.

"I'd rather not."

"Ada."

Ada huffed. There was no getting around Hecate's stubbornness, but telling her closest friend and secret crush that she'd sleepily called her a term of endearment on their teaching camp retreat was the last thing she wanted to do. "Fine. I was only going to ask-- but I know that I heard you correctly, it just caught me off guard."

"What did?" Hecate pressed. She stood and moved across the room, towering over Ada in a manner that would surely frighten the first years but only served to make Ada want to laugh.

"Are you certain you want to know?"

"Yes, please."

"Very well... if you must know, you called me 'baby' and it took me a bit by surprise. Did you not notice?"

Hecate's cheeks turned pinker than Ada's sweater. "Headmistress, I apologize gravely for my lapse. I must have been dreaming. I mean--"

Ada chuckled, cutting off any further rambled defenses. "It's forgotten, there's nothing to apologize for. Now, we had better get ready, sweetheart."

And though she turned away, the sound of Hecate's squeak of surprise was worth every bit of punishment Hecate would later think up.


	6. Royalty

Ada only meant to escape from the ball for a moment. Dance after dance-- all arranged by Mother, who meant well but seemed to have no grasp of Ada's taste-- left her sore and winded. She just needed to sit for a moment away from the crowd, to take her shoes off and breathe.

Finding an empty room in the sprawling palace was simple, and the lights were off, practically hiding her in the shadows as she sat against the wall. No one would find her.

Except for the one person who did.

Ada grabbed her leg in pain as someone tripped over her, but any concern for herself was soon washed away as the mystery girl went flying towards the ground with a yelp.

"Are you all right?" she asked, bending to help the woman up despite her legs still being pinned down.

"I-I apologize, I thought the room was empty."

"Sorry I tripped you. Are you hurt?" Ada helped her into a sitting position at the wall beside her and began to check her over.

"My leg, I think," she said between gritted teeth. "The right one."

Taking that as permission, Ada gently hiked her long deep blue dress up just enough to assess the damage. Her knee was skinned, blood trickling down and ruining her tights, but nothing appeared broken. "I can heal this if you like?"

She nodded. "Thank you."

Ada set to work, easily repairing the skin and cleaning up the mess. "So what brings you here?" she asked conversationally. "So far from the ball, I mean."

"I could ask you the same. Do you often make it a habit of wandering around other people's palaces?" she quipped.

"Only when my mother has a list of suitors a mile long, all with an urge to dance and two left feet."

"It appears we have that in common."

"There, all patched up," Ada said brightly, pulling her dress back down and sighing as she leaned back against the wall. The stranger murmured her thanks but made no move to leave. "Can I ask your name?   
You look familiar, have we met?"

"Hecate," she said hesitantly. 

Ada gasped. "Princess Hecate! I'm so sorry, Your Highness, I..." she tried to bow even from her seated place, but a cold hand on her shoulder stopped the movement.

"Just Hecate, please. If we intend to hide out together, I would prefer to leave out the titles. And you are?"


	7. Farewell

"Are you certain you need to leave?"

"It's only for a week, Hecate. You'll be more than fine holding down the fort without me."

"It is not the school I worry about." Hecate sniffed, looking away at nothing.

"Then what is it?"

"I loathe saying 'goodbye' to you," she admitted quietly.

Ada smiled and reached up to cup Hecate's chin. "But you know what's wonderful about that?"

"I should think nothing at all."

"You're forgetting how much fun it is to say hello again."


	8. Marriage

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes...

"Ada, darling, should we bring the baby carriage?"

"Hmm, I think we should pack it just in case Mother decides to take her out, don't you?" Ada continued digging through a drawer full of onesies. "It's only one night, but you never know."

"Consider it packed." Hecate smirked, checking that their baby was still sleeping before slinking up behind Ada and wrapping her arms around the shorter witch. She kissed the nape of Ada's neck and sighed at her softness. "Spending the night away from Violet will be admittedly difficult, but I must say, I am rather looking forward to having you to myself."

Ada pivoted in her arms, beaming up at Hecate and leaning in to give her a proper kiss on the lips. "I can't wait. Happy Anniversary, sweetheart."

"Happy Anniversary."


	9. First Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Yesdilex for this scenario. I was stuck.

Hecate could feel the sweat dripping down the back of her neck, and while it wasn't enough to make her regret her usual wardrobe choice, it was making gardening a little... unpleasant.

"Just one last bed to go," Ada said with a rallying tone. She was helping Hecate plant the new crop in the greenhouse for the upcoming first-years, and she was more than thankful for the assistance. The greenhouse was unseasonably hot, and Ada's help cut the time down by half. "You take that end and we'll meet at the middle. Then perhaps I'll see about getting us both some nice cold lemonade."

"That sounds agreeable." Hecate made quick work of her end, conscious all the while of her growing proximity to Ada. It was dangerous to be so close to the other woman in this heat, harder than usual to keep her reactions under check.

They met in the middle, standing on opposite sides of the raised flowerbed. Hecate finished first and looked up, eyes locked on Ada's hand as it tugged at her collar. Hecate licked her lips, tasting salt, and nearly didn't hear Ada speaking until a hand waved in front of her face.

"Hecate? Are you all right?" Ada asked in concern, leaning over the bed to get a closer look.

Hecate swallowed dryly. "Fine. Just... warm." The heat from Ada's breath on her face wasn't helping, but she didn't move away. They were so close, she could smell Ada's sweet honeysuckle perfume over the scent of the abundant greenhouse flora. 

"You've got a little something."

"Hmm?" Hecate asked, feeling a bit dazed.

"Some dirt. Allow me." Ada reached out and brushed something off Hecate's cheek, but her hand remained behind, rubbing gently against Hecate's warm skin. "Got it," she whispered.

Hecate couldn't help but watch Ada's lips. They were so close she could nearly taste them.

"You do as well. Would you like me to--" 

Ada nodded.

"Just below your lip," Hecate breathed. She leaned closer, heart thumping, and she closed the distance. Hecate brushed her lips against Ada's, humming in delight at the lingering taste of peach lipgloss and smiling when Ada kissed back. "Got it."


End file.
